As big data continues to change the world, it continues to embed itself deeper across a wider range of industries. Making evidence-based decisions is quickly becoming the status quo for successful organizations and companies are restructuring systems to use the latest and greatest tools to effectively carry out day-to-day operations.
A survey by KPMG recently reported that only 16 percent of health care professionals use data in strategic decision-making. Without data-driven strategy, the task of properly recording and relaying information needed to best serve patients can remain a cumbersome challenge and require large investments of time and money. Lack of coherent information also makes it harder to properly conduct large-scale evaluations of the quality of the services provided and to determine the factors that most directly affect patient experience. Adopting big data can combat these challenges and increase the efficiency and accuracy of healthcare. Here are three principal benefits of using big data that healthcare professionals should consider.
Focus on quality healthcare  In order to make informed decisions regarding patient care, medical professionals require constant update and contact with every patient throughout each diagnosis and treatment. By mining larger amounts of data and adding more points along the continuum of patient care information, health care systems become better equipped to respond quickly to address the needs of their patients.
But more than just showing what treatments are being provided, data can also be used internally to better identify and evaluate human resources. For example, by maintaining awareness of which employees have renewed their ACLS certification, management can evaluate the training needs of employees and how to best organize staffing.
Current research also strongly indicates that data-driven improvements made to the workplace environment have direct effects on improving the quality of medical service provided.
A better understanding of workplace metrics allows management to make specific improvements that eventually impact that care of every patient.
Reduced length of hospital stay  In addition to improving the quality of treatment given to patients, data also helps healthcare providers reduce hospital stay and increase on-time discharge.
